China vows to remain ‘safe and promising land’ for foreign investment

US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping (Photo by Jim WATSON and Anthony Kwan / AFP)

BEIJING, China — A top Chinese official vowed on Monday to protect US firms and pledged his country will remain a “promising land” for foreign investment, after Beijing slapped 34 percent tariffs on US imports.

Beijing’s tariffs “firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, including American companies”, vice commerce minister Ling Ji told a panel of representatives of US companies on Sunday, his ministry said.

Those levies — which come into effect on April 10 — “are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system”, he told the representatives. The panel included representatives from electric vehicle giant Tesla, GE Healthcare and Medtronic.

Firing back

“The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling said.

READ: Trump announces sweeping new tariffs to promote US manufacturing 

He urged the firms to “take pragmatic actions to jointly maintain the stability of global supply chains and promote mutual cooperation and win-win outcomes”.

China said on Friday it would slap 34 percent tariffs on all imports of US goods, in retaliation for levies at the same level announced by US President Donald Trump.

In response to the showdown, trading floors were overcome by a wave of selling on Monday.